


Like Real People Do

by deareststars



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Injury, Mental Health Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, Relationship(s), Smoking, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28586295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deareststars/pseuds/deareststars
Summary: Lizzie had arrived a month ago. Her bright pink hair, to Shane, meant that she was extroverted and/or had a grip on her life. He was proven wrong on the first front--she was almost as anti-social and callous as him--but he was willing to bet gold on the last. Good hygiene meant good mental health, and Shane needn't worry about someone like that, not when he was struggling to the end.Yet, one rainy, summer night, they found each other at the cliffs. They made a promise, and slowly but surely, Shane found comfort in someone just as broken as him. Their problems were different, but their suffering was the same. Alcohol in one hand, cigarette in the other. Sleepless nights galore, but unlike passing ships, they'd find their way home.Slowly but surely, they swore, they'd find out what it meant to truly live. One step at a time. Together.
Relationships: Elliott & Female Player (Stardew Valley), Linus & Player (Stardew Valley), Penny & Female Player (Stardew Valley), Sam & Female Player (Stardew Valley), Shane/Female Player (Stardew Valley)
Kudos: 7





	1. Before Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lizzie finds Shane at the cliffs. He's drunk, she's sleep-deprived, and they're both confused and broken.
> 
> But maybe after all, things will be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm excited to write for stardew valley because i've been obsessed for a few weeks lol. shane was my immediate choice for a bachelor because, well, /him./ he reminds me a lot of robert from dream daddy and honestly the trope of the fix-it alcoholic with an eventual soft side owns my heart, so what better way to explore it than with another fix-it character?
> 
> this will deal with heavy mental health issues, such as suicidal ideation, depression as a whole, and reliance on drugs and alcohol. shane's heart events will be present but with the occasional twist. lizzie will also have interactions with penny, sam, elliott, and linus throughout the story, with more characters popping in later as she gets to know them.
> 
> i think that's all i needed to get out of the way. i hope you enjoy reading. take care of yourselves throughout all the crazy shit that's happening, especially my readers in the US and syria. we're gonna get through this, one way or another, and i hope this offers you some solace and comfort. thank you! i love you! <3

“Shane, don’t ya fuckin’ dare.”

He flinched so hard that he almost slipped on the rocks near the cliff edge and took the long way down. Lizzie’s brown eyes, murky oil in the harsh rain coming down from the sky, widened in alarm and she took a hurried step toward him. With a beer can clutched desperately in his right hand and an appearance that wasn’t at all put together, he was sure she was more than concerned, but he couldn’t piece together why.

It wasn’t even just the alcohol talking. Shane and Lizzie had had maybe three meetings since she came to Pelican Town a month ago—two of them were accompanied by rude remarks from Shane and a quiet, angered disappointment from Lizzie, and the most recent one had been a pizza with extra hot peppers and jalapeños put in front of him at the Stardrop Saloon. Gus had told him that the farmer on Starfruit Farm called ahead for an order and asked him to give it to “the birthday boy.” Shane had been touched that Lizzie, so quiet and callous, remembered his birthday, remembered his name.

Still, it wasn’t like they were friends. It wasn’t like she _really_ cared. She was just another passing ship, another person privy to his suffering but not the reasons why. So why was she out in a bad summer storm at one in the morning?

“Why shouldn’t I?” he asked, alcohol making his lips looser than they would be sober. “I come here every so often, when it rains. I come here to try and forget and gather up the courage to throw myself off. And every single time, I’m too much of a coward to follow through. I thought tonight was going to be the night where I finally took control of my life, and...you’re here. Why?”

Lizzie didn’t answer his question, which irritated him because she could have responded with anything and in his drunken haze he probably would have accepted it. Instead, she approached him, picking her way over the rocks in her beat-up working boots. He vaguely noticed that she didn’t have an umbrella. A cigarette stuck out from her lips, barely lit under the hood of her jacket, stained with mud. Her pink hair fell in waves down the front of her chest, and he remembered how, even with her shitty boots and work clothes, her hair always looked meticulously brushed and like silk in the sunlight before his shifts at JojaMart. Why was she here with him when she so obviously cared so much about the state of her hair?

Yoba, he wished he still had the will to care about shit like that.

“Why?” she echoed, staring at him and taking a long drag from the cigarette. She blew the smoke out, and thankfully the wind carried it away from his face before it attacked him. He stared back at her and noticed with growing unease the dead look in her eyes, the bags under them, and the pallor of her skin.

He realized that she was truly asking him. It wasn’t out of common decency, or even simple curiosity. She looked like she cared, her body positioned so she’d be able to lunge forward and catch him before he could fall. It was a strange and foreign sight, not to be alone again.

Shane wanted to bottle it all up. Maybe he could tell her to fuck off and escape into his room and drink himself into a hard slumber, a chance to never wake up. His plans were already botched; she was here and he had enough awareness to not throw himself off right then and there. After all, besides how much it would scar her, there was a chance he might survive. Lizzie would be able to run and get Marnie and rescue him, and he’d wake up in the hospital and be right back at stage one with an added dose of physical agony. 

And yet, there was still something about her eyes that made him hesitate. All this time, he had avoided her, convincing himself that she was just another antisocial asshole with good mental health that didn’t need to deal with his bullshit—and he didn’t need to worry about someone like that. But looking at her was like looking in a mirror, and he was drunk. Before he could stop himself, words spilled from his mouth.

“I don’t fit in with anyone here,” he said, bringing the can of beer to his lips just to give himself something to do. Alcohol had long since lost its taste and appeal. “Nobody really cares. All I do is just leech off Marnie and make Jas cry. I don’t have any friends around here, except for maybe Emily and Gus, but I know they’d be better off without me. Sure, I support the saloon with how much I buy there, but in the end I’m just another patron. Why should I extend this shitty suffering just to find out there’s no light at the end of the tunnel? It’s not like I really matter—“

He cut himself off with an indignant and surprised grunt as Lizzie lurched forward and grabbed his collar with both hands. The movement caused him to throw his beer can off the side of the cliff, and for a moment he was worried that both he and Lizzie would follow after it, but she was steadier on her feet than she looked. Her hood fell back and her cigarette dropped from her mouth as she grinded her teeth together. With a jolt of shock, he realized she was fully crying, not bothering to hide it.

“For Yoba’s sake, listen to yerself! Are ya serious?!” she yelled, her city slicker accent coming clear through her anger. She shook him, her grip stronger in her left hand than her right. “I just can’t believe that for some stupid reason, ya got here before me! Even through all of that, ya got friends who understand, family ya need to protect. Ya can’t let Marnie and Jas think ya gave up on ‘em. There’s always dinner waitin’ on the table at home. What the fuck more could ya want?!”

Shane was vaguely irritated at her harsh words, and he knew he should be doing something more to defend himself. But that was all buried under the nauseating realization that she was angry, not just because he was trying to throw his life away, but because he had _gotten there before her._ This wasn’t just any stroke of luck, any coincidence. She had come here with a purpose, and to the best of his knowledge, this part of the cliffs had only one such thing.

His lack of response and shocked expression must have shaken her back into reality. Her eyes widened and the anger quickly vanished. She let go of his collar and let her hands slide down his chest before falling limply at her sides. Warmth followed the track of her palms and quickly disappeared in the growing chill. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“N-No, I needed someone to fix my head back on straight.” She gave him a faint smile, which in turn gave him the courage to press on. “But...what was that all about? Me getting here before you?”

She froze. “I...It’s nothin’.”

Shane scoffed. “You don’t think I’m that stupid, do you?”

“That’s up to interpretation.”

“Oh, shut up.” He crossed his arms and gave her a cold stare that made her shoulders bunch up to her ears. “I came clean. It’s your turn.”

“Ya got liquid courage, it ain’t fair.” 

He didn’t say anything.

After what felt like hours, she finally made direct eye contact with him, her lips drawn down into a fierce scowl that looked forced. “Well, what more do ya want than that? I was plannin’ on doin’ just that tonight. I even got the math all figured out, and I thought I was gonna be the only one here. And then ya just had to be here at such an ungodly hour.”

“Well, I’m glad I was.” He uncrossed his arms and rubbed the back of his head. “Listen, all of that stuff you were screaming at me applies to you too. I know I haven’t been the best person to you, and I’m...sorry. But I know just enough to understand that if you threw yourself off, you’d make Penny, Sam, Elliott, and Linus all think you gave up on them. And could you imagine what the chickens and your cat would think?”

Her lips parted in surprise. “Y-Y’know about ‘em?”

He rolled his eyes. “How did you think the chickens got there in the first place? Not to mention your cat’s a very social little guy.” Lizzie pressed her lips back together and looked down at the ground. He sighed. “I’m not the best at comforting people, so don’t go crying on me again.”

“I’m not.” She rubbed her right arm. He noticed she did that a lot, walking around town. Huh, maybe he paid more attention to the city girl than he thought. “Just thinkin’ about how absurd it is that I’m here right now. That yer here right now.”

Shane laughed a little, and although there was no humor in the situation, it seemed to make her relax a little. “I agree.” He watched her for a few moments, noticed that the rain was starting to calm down to a drizzle, and saw her shoulders shaking with a suppressed chill. It had to be getting to two in the morning, and he’d be surprised if the yelling didn’t wake Marnie up. “We should leave before one of us slips and all of that shit goes down the drain. I think I can leave all of this for another time.”

“...Yeah, same.”

Now that the danger had passed, she was quickly crawling back into her shell. Lizzie turned to leave, and maybe he should have just let her, but Shane made a last minute (and quite frankly stupid) decision. “Lizzie, wait.”

She stopped in her tracks and looked at him, maybe a little curious, maybe a little annoyed. Good, the sudden concern was starting to throw him for a loop. “Whaddya want now?”

“Let’s make a promise.”

Her mouth formed a dark ‘o’. “Yeah? What kinda promise could ya possibly have for me?”

“Well, I guess...I guess I’ve been having a few second thoughts,” he admitted. “About the whole drinking situation. And it’s not like I’m planning on stopping anytime soon--I don’t even think I’d be able to. But I at least want to try. Marnie gave me a real talking to before I came out here, said I was making Jas think her Uncle Shane was giving up on her.”

Lizzie winced. “Yikes.”

“Mhmm.” He started walking away from the cliffs, and Lizzie trailed after him like a lost puppy. He wondered why neither of them had the common sense to bring a flashlight. “I don’t know the full shit about what you’re going through, and I’m confident it’s vice versa. But, y’know, if you ever need help, I think I’m the most qualified person to give it to you. Besides Doctor Harvey, but he’s just a physician.”

“Yeah?” A little smile made her lips curl up at the corners. It was the closest she’d gotten to looking approachable. Seemed like she’d been diagnosed with chronic Resting Bitch Face, too. “Y’think? Ya might be surprised. I’ve got quite a few problems of my own, country boy.”

At the sound of the nickname, he shot her a glare that she pretended not to see. “Well, maybe I can’t relate, but I can at least try to show you some compassion,” he said defensively. “Let’s help each other. Let’s try to get better, one step at a time.”

Lizzie’s feet slowed, her movements growing sluggish. He saw her pensive expression, the subtle narrowing of her eyes. “Ya want us to get better together? Ain’t that some kinda cliched shit?”

The combined stress of the evening and his drunken haze made his temper boil over. “Look, I’m trying to be a good person!” Shane complained. “I don’t want to leave Jas and Marnie hurt and confused, and I know you don’t want that for your friends. It’s not like we’re not gonna get better for ourselves.” She immediately fell silent, and although he felt a twinge of guilt for calling it out without any tact, they both knew it was true. “It’s the only way I know how without spending a fortune on therapy.”

“Group therapy without the qualified therapist,” she murmured. She gnawed at her thumbnail and let out a little giggle. “Who woulda known Mister Shane would be such a good negotiator?”

Heat flooded his face. He was too tired for this shit. “Shut the fuck up. I’ll rescind my offer at this rate.”

She held her hands up in mock surrender, but quickly dropped them back down. “I get where yer comin’ from. I...I want to get better too. I’m tired’a bein’ alone.”

_You’re not really alone,_ he wanted to say, but maybe in context it would sound a little too condescending. He decided to be honest instead, not knowing what else to say. “Me too.”

They ended up back at Lizzie’s ranch without either of them noticing. After the rough night, Shane’s head was pounding and he just wanted to get home, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Lizzie until he knew she was inside and safe.

As if reading his mind, Lizzie giggled and pushed his chest gently. That strange warmth from before spread through his chest again. He pushed her away, but she seemed to take it as him joking around. “Go on, get. Yer gettin’ soaked, and a cold ain’t gonna help ya get better.”

“Right.” He rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. “Be safe, I guess.”

“I guess,” she mocked. “Good night, Shane. I’m glad yer still here.”

It was such an off-handed statement, but it still made him feel ridiculously warm inside. Maybe they were getting at something; maybe that promise wasn’t so ridiculous after all. Or maybe it was just the alcohol taking; that seemed like a recurring theme.

“Good night, Lizzie,” he said softly. “I’m happy you’re still here, too. And, uh, I never got around to thanking you for that pizza. It meant a lot, you remembering my birthday even after all of my shit. So...thanks.”

He wanted to punch himself in the face from how awkward he sounded, but she didn’t seem to mind. Her face softened and she gave him a sweet and genuine smile. Before he knew it, her door was shut and the lights were off. He shook himself out of his daze, making his way back to the ranch house in the dark.


	2. Social Battery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lizzie makes her rounds to her friends and ends up bumping into Shane as she's heading back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops didn't mean to let this one get so long lol, but at least now there's some more character interactions :blushingface:

"You know, smoking's bad for your health."

Lizzie huffed out a laugh at the familiar voice and took the offending cigarette in question out of her mouth. "I'm sure if something bad happens, Doc'll be able to fix me right back up again."

She picked the last of the ripe tomatoes from her garden, tossed them into her basket, and stood up with a groan as a few pops sounded from her back. Sam stood next to her mailbox, as bright and cheery as ever, with a wrapped bundle held carefully in his hands. Lizzie's mood immediately brightened at the sight of the familiar pastel pink cloth. "Well, hopefully Doctor Harvey won't take too long fixing you up," Sam teased, "because Mom's eggplant parmesan won't be as good cold as it is warm."

"If ya told me about that sooner, I would'a waited to light this one." Lizzie brought the basket with her as she headed inside, leaving the door open as an invitation for Sam to enter her cabin. Since she moved in, she'd moved some furniture around and managed to make the little living space look a lot more homey. Maybe it was useless, since she didn't have many people over aside from the occasional visit from Sam and his family, but it did make her feel a little better to live in a place with functioning lights and a floor that didn't make her worry about getting a splinter in her foot.

Sam set the bundle down on the dining table and waited for Lizzie to wash up. When she came out of the small bathroom, her pink hair free from its sunhat and now falling down her back in a simple ponytail, Sam grinned. "Don't keep me waiting, now. Mom said to wait until you were ready to dig in, and I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be able to do that!"

"Oh, hush up, ya big baby." She grabbed some plates and silverware while Sam sat down at the table. It had become a tradition of theirs, every Wednesday when Sam brought over something homemade from Jodi, to eat breakfast together and take in the pleasant morning. Lizzie had a feeling that it wore a little on Sam to be out and about at eight in the morning, but he did a brilliant job of keeping those feelings hidden. "How's Vinnie doin' with his schoolwork?"

He thanked her as she passed him a plateful of the eggplant parmesan. "Pretty good, considering who his older brother is," he admitted. "Penny said he's trying his best, but being a little boy and all, he tends to lean more towards sports than academics. She said it's probably nervous energy more than anything. When he does pay attention, he catches on fairly quickly." Lizzie waved her fork threateningly at him, not bothering to say anything. "Right, right, I need to give myself more credit. But enough about my little brother. How's the farm going?"

She swallowed a bite of her food and looked out the window. In the distance, she could hear the chickens clucking and feeding. Rows of painstakingly planted blueberries, melons, hot peppers, and tomatoes all flourished under the heat, freshly plucked and their harvests ready to be put into the shipping bin. It had taken a lot of work to separate them so that she'd always have her left ear facing the entrance to her farm, but looking back on it now, she was proud of what she had accomplished.

Her face must have reflected her thoughts; Sam sat back in his chair with a relieved sigh. "I'm glad you're not struggling. I would've hated to see you leave so soon after coming into town."

Lizzie scowled at him. "What, are ya sayin' I'm a quitter?"

He held his hands up in mock surrender, and although he tried his hardest to keep a poker face, she could see the corners of his lips threatening to twitch upward. "Says the lady who tried to play _Journey of the Prairie King_ and rage-quit halfway through."

Sam burst into laughter as she slammed her left hand down on the table. "That's completely beside the point!" she complained. "Y'know that ain’t even remotely close to raisin' an entire farm and chicken coop, blondie."

"I know, it's just fun to get a rise out of you." Lizzie blew a piece of hair out of her face and crossed her arms with a scowl. Content that he had won, Sam fell silent and the two enjoyed the rest of their meal with sparse conversation.

At about ten thirty, after they had finished and Sam was filling the silence with enthused talk about the things he was learning on guitar, he looked up at the clock on the wall and frowned. "Damn, I've gotta get going soon."

"I can't believe ya still have that stupid job at JojaMart," she griped as she gathered the dishes together and put them into the sink to be washed later. "Sure, it's the only source'a income around here, but it's like a blood-suckin' parasite."

Sam rubbed the back of his head. "It's a lot more complicated than that, y'know. Mom loves JojaMart because of its prices. It'd complicate things if I suddenly told her that I hate working there."

Lizzie tried her best not to roll her eyes. "Those other employees don't have a problem sayin' out loud how much they hate their jobs."

He snorted. "Like Shane? Liz, the guy hates _everything."_

 _Not_ _true,_ she almost said, but she remembered that no one else was privy to what had happened last night at the cliffs. Oh Yoba, last night...

She chose not to respond, and thankfully, Sam didn't seem to think anything was wrong. After helping her put everything away and place her goods into the bin, he bade her a cheery farewell and disappeared down the beaten dirt path.

"What else?" she mused aloud as she turned to head back into her house, trying to decide what else she needed to get done. Maybe she could gather some berries for Linus and bring them over so he could have something pleasant to eat for lunch. Or maybe she'd go visit Penny and the kids down in the museum; she did have a fossil she found while hoeing the land a few days ago that she could give to Gunther. Elliott probably wouldn't mind her company either, since it was such a nice day. Maybe even Shane--

She winced at the thought of Shane, how easily he fit into her thought processes now. Still, it wasn't like she could help it, what with that brash promise and the brokenhearted lilt in Shane's voice and the way his face seemed to soften when he thanked her for his birthday present because he probably hadn't gotten one outside of Marnie and Jas for ages. She wasn't lying when she told him that she had more problems than he knew about, but just like how he looked horrified when she let slip that he had gotten there before her, so she was nauseated that she'd find someone with the same suffering as her.

Her fingers twitched to reach for another cigarette, her mouth starting to go dry. The moment that urge started to settle in, she quickly shoved her hands into the pockets of her shorts and decided to follow through with her first course of action. The shortcut leading up to the mountains was bound to be full of berries and roots, which gave her even more of a reason to avoid town for the day. Even if Pierre's was open today, she still had enough crops going to where she could spare buying seeds until at least Friday.

Thankfully, the bushes along the sides of the trail were full of ripe spice berries and grapes, and she wished she had thought to bring her basket with her. She had to settle for placing them carefully in her backpack and hoping they wouldn't turn into shitty preserves on her way to Linus' tent.

She emerged from the backwoods and almost made direct eye contact with Demetrius, who was coming out of his home and heading down to the park near the community center. As if trying to spite her, he turned around and gave her a pleasant smile. "Hello, Lizzie. Enjoying the weather?"

She bit back a scathing remark and tried for a smile instead. "Yeah, it's pretty mild for summer. Have fun...surveyin' the plants, or whatever ya do this time'a year."

Demetrius laughed. "Thank you. Have a pleasant day."

The moment he turned back around, she hurried over to Linus' tent. At the sound of her footsteps, the mountain man emerged while stretching his arms over his head. "Mornin', Lizzie. I didn't expect to see you today. Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just needed to get away from the farm for a bit," she admitted. "I brought some berries. Mind sharin' some with me?"

His expression brightened. "Oh, never. Let's take a seat."

They passed a few hours eating the berries Lizzie had foraged, talking quietly about topics that never veered toward personal ones. That was one of the things Lizzie liked about chatting with Linus; so long as she didn't pry into his personal affairs, he was more than comfortable letting hers be. Instead, they discussed other things--geography of places they'd read about in books, the animals they'd spotted while wandering around, where they'd most like to go if they ever got the chance. In regards to the last topic, Linus mentioned the Gotoro Empire in passing, but he quickly changed the subject when he saw Lizzie's face fall.

Around noon, as Lizzie started gathering her things back together, Linus glanced over to the mines. "Have you ever ventured down there?"

Lizzie stared at the entrance. A chill began running down her spine at the mere thought of being down there, cramped and alone with monsters most likely constantly on her heel. "No, never thought about it," she replied. "It'd be the last thing I'd ever do. I have other ways of makin' money, after all."

Linus laughed quietly. "That is very fair. I don't think I'd like it down there, either. Will you be going to the Luau tomorrow?"

"Didn't even know there was one, to be honest,” she said with a sigh. "I dunno, Linus, I really don't like crowds. Is it usually full'a people?"

"It depends on what your definition of that is," he replied with a kind smile. "I would advise going, though. Every year, we have an annual potluck, where most everyone contributes a little something into the soup. Add something from that farm of yours, and I bet you're going to get a lot of traffic for your goods."

She rubbed her hands together, trying to work the sweat off her palms. "I guess it'd be nice to have that sort'a exposure. Same schedule as the other festivals?"

"Yes. I always make a nice roast off to the side. If the crowds get to be too much, you can always come by and share a meal with me, alright?"

She managed a little smile, pushing her anxieties off to the side. Yoba, she could really go for a smoke right about now. "Alright. Thanks for the invitation, Linus. I'll be sure to say hi to ya tomorrow, okay?"

"I'll be looking forward to it."

Since she was already out and about, she decided to go visit Penny next. It was always pleasant visiting her no matter the time of day, but Vincent and Jas were also so much nicer than the kids she'd occasionally become acquainted with in the city. (It also helped that Jas lived with Shane, and well, Lizzie was a little more curious now than she cared to admit.)

She arrived at the museum and found not only Penny tutoring the kids, but Abigail leaning up against one of the bookshelves, a hardcover book in her hands and a thoughtful expression on her face. Lizzie handed the fossil over to Gunther, who gave her a thankful nod in return, and headed over to Penny.

"Oh, Liz, it's always lovely to see you," Penny said. "Actually, Jas was just telling me about you."

"Yeah?" Lizzie sat down next to Penny and gave Jas a curious eyebrow raise. "All good things, I hope."

"Of course!" Jas exclaimed, giving her a sheepish smile as Penny put a finger to her lips. "Sorry. I just got really excited, because Uncle Shane was asking Aunt Marnie about you earlier this morning before he went to JojaMart. It was something about the chickens. I think he asked her if he could handle all the chicken deliveries to your farm from now on."

Lizzie tried her best to ignore the surprised look that Penny gave her. "Well, Shane's good when it comes to chickens. He cares about those li'l guys more than people."

"Understandable," Penny admitted with a shrug. "Animals can be much more caring than people at times. Vincent, Jas, did you want to tell Miss Lizzie about what you've learned? It'll be good review for both of you. Let's start with you, Vincent."

It was easy to get lost in the facts that the two children spouted about the books they were currently reading. Lizzie didn't need to pretend to be entertained by how enthusiastic Jas was as she talked about what nouns and verbs were, nor by how Vincent rambled about the various planets in space. It wasn't long before Abigail had wandered over, curious about what they were learning, and started teaching the kids about the different types of fish she'd seen in the mountain lake. The five of them chatted until Penny had to get the kids out of the library, and Lizzie bade Abigail a quick goodbye as she began walking over to Cindersap Forest to visit Elliott. She was starting to regret putting forth all this effort to talk to people, but she'd feel guilty for the rest of the night, and so she pushed on.

The writer turned around at the sound of her footsteps and spread his arms out wide in greeting. "My favorite farmer. Did you really come all the way out here just to visit me?"

"I've been makin' my rounds," she said, coming to a stop next to Elliott by the riverside. "Guess I decided to save the best for last."

"And you truly did," Elliott replied with a confident smile. "Come, tell me about what you've been up to today. Perhaps it will be inspiration for my novel!"

She perked up at the mention of it. "Actually, can ya tell me about that first? I want to know when yer gonna be finished with that stack'a pages. It's been a while since I've had good readin' material."

"Lizzie, you truly do know how to get me to talk. Very well! Considering what you've told me about life in the city, I think it'd be apt to have Clara be a train stewardess..."

The pattern of Elliott rambling while Lizzie listened was familiar and welcome. She enjoyed having this sort of quiet trust, wherein Elliott knew Lizzie wouldn't hesitate to tell him that one of his ideas wouldn't work out, and all Lizzie had to do was listen. In these sessions, she'd found out more about Elliott, and vice versa, but it never felt forced or uncomfortable. Both of them knew that things would come up when they would come up, and all they needed was to talk briefly about them until they were prepared to dive into a different idea.

The clock struck six, and Elliott finished up the last of his ramblings. He laughed, his voice a little dry, and shook his head. "I must have no soul of wit, for brevity is beyond me. I suppose there is something about being in pleasant company that makes me want to talk more. Thank you once again, Lizzie, for talking to me. This will certainly make its way onto paper!"

She forced a smile and nodded. "Well, I sure hope so. Anytime, Elliott. Have a good evenin'."

They walked with each other until the paths branched, and Elliott strolled out of sight. The moment he was gone, Lizzie's smile vanished. Her shoulders slumped and she reached into her pocket for the cigarettes she had picked up before heading to Linus' tent. With how much she had to talk to people today, there was no way she'd be able to sleep peacefully if she didn't work her nerves off somehow.

"Smoking's piss poor for your health."

Lizzie almost dropped the cigarette and turned around to see Shane, coming down the path with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "Haven't I heard that before," she griped, putting the cigarette back into its container with a heavy sigh. She couldn't be bothered to put up a happy facade with how low her social battery was. "Is this gonna be a common occurrence, runnin' into each other before we make bad decisions?"

"Looks like it," Shane replied. "What were you doing out here?"

"Chattin' with Elliott." They began walking down the path together in a less drastic repeat of the night before. "I needed to get my mind off smokin', so I decided to head up to the mountains, and things just kinda happened naturally after that."

Shane huffed out a laugh. "Socializing takes your mind off it? When I talk to people, I want to make a new world record for the most amount of beers chugged in a single evening."

Lizzie shrugged. "Not all of us suck ass at talkin' to people." He gave her a weak glare, which only meant that she was right. "If it makes ya feel any better, it's more like people talkin' at me than proper socializin'. And if it were with anyone else, I'd've tore my brains out."

"Funnily enough, it kinda does." They fell into a comfortable silence as they arrived at the entrance to Marnie's home. "Are you in the market for more chickens?"

Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "Is this yer marketin' strategy to sell shit to me?"

"Maybe. I also want to check up on your chickens and make sure you didn't kill the poor things, and it'd be kind of weird to just drop by."

"Ya say that like we're still strangers," she said, her lips pursed. "If it makes ya feel better, though, I was actually about to buy another li'l fella. Maybe I'll swing by on Friday."

Shane's eyebrows furrowed together, but something quickly clicked and he groaned. "Fuck, I forgot tomorrow's the Luau. Stupid thing always sneaks up on me."

"Hey, I didn't even know it existed, so we're in the same boat. Yer gonna be there, right? I dunno if I'll be able to stand all the cheery music and shit without smokin', so I need someone to hold me accountable."

"You didn't get any of your other friends in on it?"

Her gaze wandered over to the town. "If it doesn't work out, I don't want them to be disappointed."

Shane frowned, but he didn't bother saying anything else. "Yeah, I'm gonna be there. Bring something good for the potluck so it'll be worth sticking around, 'kay?"

She grinned. "Lucky for ya, the hens started layin' some good quality eggs the other day. I'll bring some around, and that soup's gonna be the best fuckin' thing ya ever tasted."

"Oh, that's a lot of arrogance for the new farmer," Shane teased with a smile of his own. The sight of him giving her something other than a scowl or frown made her feel strangely warm inside, as though she were sitting in front of a campfire. "I'll be sure to attribute the soup's success all to you, then."

"I'll be lookin' forward to it." She turned around and stuck her hand up in a farewell gesture. "Get some rest, ya old coot. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Hey, we're probably the same age, asshole!" She turned around and flipped him off with both hands, laughing loudly as he returned the gesture with an angered expression on his face. "I hope you fall off your bed in the middle of the night."

"I hope ya trip and fall into a big ol' pile'a cow dung!"

"I hope you faceplant into the hay your chickens piss on!"

They both glared at each other for a moment, until finally Shane's lips twitched and he began to laugh just as loud as she did. Her smile froze onto her face and she watched him for a moment, without the stress of alcohol or disappointment on his shoulders as he basked fully in warmth. He came down from his high and stared back at her, and a tingly feeling began to spread from her fingertips through her arms. Heat flooded her face and she turned around, not bothering to say good night.

She couldn't say she quite dreaded the idea of going to the Luau anymore.


End file.
